First Day of School

The first day of school wasn't too hard for me. Kindergarten is only two and a half hours so Hyrum is hardly gone. The first day I took the kids to school and walked them to their classes so my the time I got home, took a shower and did a load of laundry it was about time for Hyrum to come home. Day two was more difficult.

The kids take the bus to school. It is also of course the most exciting part of the day. It took John and I a while to feel good about our kid taking the bus to school. I pick up Alan from school because we decided that the 35 minute bus ride home was too much. However since we are one of the last stops on the way to school we let them ride the bus to school. I think the school bus is where I learned all the bad words. I'm not really looking forward to my kids growing up in that way.

So on the second day of school I took my kids to the bus stop and watched my baby board the bus along with all of these big kids. I practically followed him on directing him to the seat behind the bus driver and assuring him that at the next stop the the little boy his age would sit next to him. My heart pounded as the bus drove away and I waved frantically to my two little boys. I came home anxious wondering how I was going to survive this everyday.

I've been doing better. I've been getting some projects done and I have time to fold laundry (not that it makes a difference in my motivation. I still don't want to fold the laundry so it still sits unfolded in the laundry basket, but at least it's clean). But the kids are happy and loving school. Alan even decided this year that he likes to read. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts.

Snoogie-wookims

John and I don't exactly have many pet names for each other. One to be exact. To me he is "Husband". To him I am "Wife." It started on our honeymoon when it was novel to be husband and wife.

"Could you pass the salt Husband?" giggle, giggle.

"No problem Wife" he would respond with a kiss.

That's how it all started. And it never stoped. To this day he is Husband, and I am wife.

I have never called John sweetie, dear, babe, or anything like that. However, one time I came close. When we were engaged we were driving to Zion National Park. As we were driving down the back roads I saw a deer in the road a distance ahead.

"Deer" I called out to warn John. John however just smiled and looked at me expectantly.

"Deer!" I repeated louder.

"Yes" John replied.

"No John! Look Out! There's a deer in the road!"

I think that cured the need for pet names in our marriage.

Happy Anniversary Husband!

I think this is the first time I have looked at our wedding pictures and thought. "Wow we look young"

School

I was lamenting the fact that if I were to get an ice cream from the freezer I would have to share with my kids. Then I realized that next week I can sneak all the ice cream I want.

Having your youngest start Kindergarten is good for something.

Beach Bum

For two people that grew up in California we sure waited a long time to take our kids to the beach. Almost eight years in fact. We have been to California numerous times to visit family and friends but only on this last visit did we take the kids to the beach. It was overcast, windy, and cold. Exactly how I remember the beach from when I was a kid. Of course the kids didn't care and had a blast. Alan stayed in the water the longest and Hyrum who had been talking about building a sand castle for months finally was able to achieve his goal with the help of his cousins and his Dad. I think we will have to go out to the beach again soon.

Legoland

Last month our family got to go to Legoland. What a fun trip. We really had a lot of fun. It was nice to go to an amusement park in the middle of the summer that didn't have crazy long lines. We only stood in one line that was 30 minutes long. Legoland has some really great things going for it. The playground areas are by far the best that I have ever seen. They were huge and had all the fun gadgets. Despite the weather being in the sixties the kids still wanted to get wet. The water playground was awesome. We had the kids go there last thing before we left the park for the afternoon so that we could go right back to the hotel and get into dry warm clothes before we went back for the evening.

Legoland also just opened up a water park. It was great for the kids because the height requirement for all of the water slides was only 42 inches. Hyrum is unable to go on most water slides here in Phoenix but was able to go on all of them at Legoland.

Another great thing that legoland had going for it was that for most rides that the lines were likely to get long they had a Lego station for the kids to build at while parents waited in line. Most of the time the lines were short enough so that we didn't need to take advantage of it, but we all know that the lines are the worst part of amusement parks so this was nice. Legolands rides are also more interactive that any other amusement park (that I know of), you frequently had to pedal, pump, or steer, your ride. I thought that was kind of cool.

There was an advertisement there that talked about miniland, where they build miniatures of cities all out of Lego's. The advertisements said something about how many millions of blocks of Lego's were in miniland and only one toilet. I told the kids if they could find the one toilet I would give them each a dollar. With a bit of help they were able to find it.

Take note of the kids bandannas. They really made it easier to keep track of the kids. And they are still young enough to think they are cool. Great idea John!

We also stopped by the sealife aquarium while we were there. It was cool as well but let's face it. When there is a choice between fish and rides, the rides win.

A Joyful Independence Day

It's been a great Independence Day. Church this morning was wonderful. I love it when we get to sing Hymns about our country at church. Then this afternoon we made some decorations and had a special dinner of Hot Dogs (The kids find hot dogs more special then anything I could have spent hours on. In fact the pasta salad, the only thing that really took any work, was also the only thing they didn't want to eat.) Hyrum insisted that since it's our country's birthday we needed to have a cake. So I made a brownie and told the kids it was cake. They decorated it with strawberries and blueberries to make a flag. But the best part of the day came when I was trying to fit our leftovers into the refrigerator.

The kids had been asking all day for juice boxes and I kept saying no. As I was looking in the refrigerator I noticed that there were fewer juice boxes than there were yesterday. I began the inquisition with Alan and felt confident in his denial. I moved on to Hyrum and could immediately see the guilt.

"Hyrum did you drink a juice box with out asking?"

"But Mom, you said if I asked you one more time I would have to stand in the corner."

Figuring he didn't want to stand in the corner he went ahead and helped himself.

I think this was the time the time I have had the hardest time keeping a straight face while lecturing my kids.